The diagram given below represents an endocrine gland in the human body. Study the diagram and answer the following questions: The diagram given below represents an endocrine gland in the human body. Study the diagram and answer the following questions:
Identify the endocrine gland. Where is it located?
Topic: Pituitary gland
Answer
The gland is the PITUITARY GLAND (hypophysis).
It is located at the BASE OF THE BRAIN, in a bony cavity of the skull called the SELLA TURCICA, and is attached to the hypothalamus by a stalk called the INFUNDIBULUM.
Identify it from the diagram by the INFUNDIBULUM — the stalk attaching it to the brain — and its division into an ANTERIOR and a POSTERIOR lobe. No other endocrine gland has that shape.
Both halves of the question must be answered: the name AND the location. "At the base of the brain" earns the mark; adding the sella turcica and infundibulum shows precision.
It is about the size of a pea, yet it controls most of the other endocrine glands.